Flush your DNS cache

When you visit a site, your computer saves (“caches”) the answer to which server is this domain on? so it doesn’t have to ask again every time. That’s normally invisible and helpful — but right after a domain moves to a new server or its DNS records change, your device can keep using the old answer and show you the old site.

Devices are supposed to re-check after a short while, but some record lifetimes stretch to hours or even days. Clearing the cache by hand skips the wait.

First, confirm it’s actually your computer

Before changing anything locally, check whether the new DNS has actually gone out to the world. Look your domain up at whatsmydns.net — it queries servers in many countries at once.

• Most locations show the new value — the change has propagated, and a stale local cache is the likely culprit. Continue below.
• Most locations still show the old value — the change hasn’t propagated yet. Flushing your own cache won’t help; give it time.

Tip

A quick sanity check: open the site in a private / incognito window, or on your phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi. If it looks correct there, the problem is local to your computer.

Windows

1. Press the Windows key, type Command Prompt, and open it.

2. Type this and press Enter:

   ipconfig /flushdns

3. You should see “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”

macOS

1. Open Terminal (in Applications → Utilities, or press Cmd + Space and search for “Terminal”).

2. Type this and press Enter:

   sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

3. Enter your administrator password when prompted, then press Enter. Nothing is printed when it works — no news is good news.

Note

Both commands matter on macOS: the first clears the lookup cache, the second restarts the service that answers DNS queries. Running only the first often appears to do nothing.

Still seeing the old site?

Your computer isn’t the only thing that caches DNS. Work outward:

• Your browser keeps its own cache. Do a hard refresh (Ctrl + Shift + R, or Cmd + Shift + R on a Mac) or try a private window.
• Your router caches DNS too. Restarting it clears that.
• Your internet provider’s resolvers cache as well, and you can’t clear those — they expire on their own schedule. If everything else is clean, this is usually what’s left. It typically resolves within a few hours.

If it’s still wrong well after the record’s lifetime should have expired, it may not be a caching problem at all — get in touch and we’ll look at the actual DNS records.

Related

• Manage DNS records
• Add a domain
• Clear your site’s cache — for when content is stale rather than DNS.

Still stuck?

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and our team will help.